


Where it Mattered

by Pen_to_parchment



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, jeyna, pure angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pen_to_parchment/pseuds/Pen_to_parchment
Summary: A lot had changed since Jason disappeared, but a lot of things stayed the same. Namely, Gwen's protective instincts over Reyna, who's been badly hurt in more ways than one.
Relationships: Jason Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33





	Where it Mattered

**Author's Note:**

> Ultra short drabble I found while sorting through docs. Posted it anyway because it threw a wrench in my writing schedule.

Jason burst through the doors of Camp Jupiter’s infirmary. No one spared him a glance, too preoccupied with the dozens of patients littering the floor. He searched their pained faces, praying that _her_ face wasn’t among them. 

The harsh light emanating off the ceiling bounced off the sterile white of the walls and tiled floor, bathing everything in an unnatural glow. He observed the layout of the infirmary. The waiting area just inside the door had been converted into an extension of the treatment area to maximize space for so many wounded. Abstract art pieces lined the walls, meant to soothe waiting family members, but with the chorus of cries coming from the floor, they seemed to lose their effect. In the main facility down the right hall, more serious wounds were treated. Muffled screams of agony floated down the corridor. A small corner of the main room was dominated by several prone figures obscured by white sheets. Jason froze. He took several steps towards the corner, intent on determining his best friend’s fate. 

So intent, in fact, that he ran straight into Gwen. Her usually soft verdant eyes hardened just as they always had since his return to Camp. “Pontifex,” she greeted formally. Jason winced internally, but pushed the feeling aside in favor of inquiring about a certain friend of his. 

“Where is she?” he asked breathlessly. 

“I’m sorry. Are you looking for a patient?” She glanced down at the clipboard she cradled and brushed stray strands of dull red hair back into her hurriedly-done ponytail. Jason was simply irritated at that point.

Blue eyes flashed dangerously. “Cut the crap, Gwen. Where’s Reyna?” 

“Ah,” she clicked her tongue as she scribbled something down on the clipboard. “Praetor Ramírez-Arellano.” Jason realized Gwen had just taken away his right to refer to Reyna by her comparatively shorter first name. “Yeah,” he conceded, barely refraining from rolling his eyes. “Where is she?” 

“I’m afraid you can’t see her.” The bluntness of her words hit Jason worse than the brick. He fought to keep his voice level. “Why the Hades not?” He said tightly. 

“Due to measures to keep up morale, only people of the same or higher rank can visit our… injured officers.” she considered him for a moment. “As well as family, of course,” she rushed to add, all with poorly concealed incredulity. 

Unwavering green eyes met stormy blue ones while Jason processed Gwen’s particular word choice. Because that happened to be the way he was able to visit Reyna before he was even her fellow Praetor. 

_“But, Gwen!” a younger Jason pleaded with the medic. “She’s my friend!”_

_“She still outranks you,_ Centurion,” _she reminded him. “It’s just a broken arm, Jason. She’ll be fine.” Gwen suppressed a smile for fear of encouraging the blond’s antics. He pouted. She held her ground._

_His azure eyes lit up suddenly. “But I’m family,” he reasoned._

_Gwen snorted. “Since when?” she said, trying to humor him._

_“I’m_ practically _family,” he proclaimed._

_“Uh huh.” The daughter of Apollo glanced back down at her clipboard. Jason, undeterred, tugged at her arm._

_“Pleeeease? It’s not like I’m gonna hurt her.” And no, Gwen could not argue with that; especially when puppy dog eyes were added to the pout._

_She huffed. “Five minutes.” Jason beamed._

_“See? Practically family.”_

From then on, those were the grounds he argued on. Even when he was promoted to Reyna’s rank of Praetor, he was always permitted to see her on the basis that he was ‘practically family’. It warmed Gwen’s heart. 

But family doesn’t leave for eight months or return with someone new or abandon their home when they’re needed most. So Gwen’s heart turned cold. Reyna lost a fellow Praetor. Practically family became practically _strangers_. 

This scene replayed in Gwen’s mind in the same heartbeat that Jason registered her words enough to be hurt. “At least tell me if she’s alive,” Jason said, defeated. Gwen bit her lip. “I’m sorry, but the Praetor’s condition is confidential until it can be disclosed to the entire Legion.” Jason nodded bitterly then hung his head. “Of course it is.” 

He searched her eyes intensely. Perhaps looking for the sympathy and indulgence that used to be there. If the pained look on his face was any indication, he didn’t find it. “What changed? I used to be able to see her. It’s not like I’m gonna hurt her.”

It was true. Few things had changed. Same clean infirmary, same calm Gwen, same stubborn Jason, same camp, same people, gods, even the same clipboard, same everything… except things weren’t the same. Not really. Not where it mattered. The infirmary was in the same impeccable condition but was tainted by the metallic scent of blood and the bleach that tried to conceal it. The calmness in Gwen was no longer comforting or reassuring; it was cold. Distant. Even Jason’s persistence had reached a limit. He had learned when to quit. He knew there was a chance that Reyna didn’t even want to see him. That had to be the biggest change of all, Gwen decided. 

_“It’s not like I’m gonna hurt her,”_ he had said. 

If only that were true.

If only things were the same, when Jason would beg to see Reyna and she would pretend to be annoyed. 

If only the pain he had caused her ran as shallow as a broken arm. 

_“It’s not like I’m gonna hurt her.”_

Gwen glanced up from her clipboard. Her emerald eyes softened for a fraction of a second and glistened with tears she could not afford to shed. 

“Oh, Jason. You already have.”


End file.
